B’s vs. Sens

Almost everyone was at morning skate, with veterans Glen Murray and Zdeno Chara being the only, and understandable, exceptions.

Jason York and Wayne Primeau skated before the regular skate and York joined the rest of the squad for morning skate. York did not look out of place and seemed to be having no troubles, however the timetable for both still puts them back after the break.

Hannu Toivonen was first off (for the goalies) and that is a signal that he will start tonight’s game.

"I just want him to continue on," said Bruins head coach Dave Lewis of Toivonen’s recent performance. "He had a good second half of the game (on Thursday) and gave us a chance to win and he won."

Coach did not belie any formula for picking Hannu over Tim Thomas in a big game tonight.

"I hope the timing (of his start) is perfect -- I guess we’ll find out afterward," said Lewis. "Every game is big for us."

Lewis said Ottawa’s "rolling pretty good as a team. They are playing a pretty conservative style in the neutral zone. They try and create chances, it’s like a 1-4-1 almost, but they still have that attack power."

The Bruins, however, have had some success with Ottawa; Boston is 41-21-8-8 all-time vs. Ottawa with a 254-203 scoring edge in those 76 games.

On home ice, the Bruins are 24-10-5-0 all-time vs. the Senators with a 141-105 scoring advantage in those 39 contests.

The Bruins are 3-1-0 vs. Ottawa in this season’s series thus far with a 2-1 win in Boston on Oct. 28, a 4-3 win in Boston on Nov. 11, a 7-2 victory in Ottawa on Dec. 19 and a 5-2 setback in Ottawa on Jan. 9.

The Bruins have won their last five games vs. the Senators in Boston with their last home loss to Ottawa a 5-2 loss on Nov. 10, 2005.

But here is the best stat of the day: The Bruins are 6-1-0-1 in their last eight games overall vs. the Senators.

"The game in Ottawa (that) we lost -- there was no Chara, no Stuart," said Coach Lewis of the one loss. "Jason York played two shifts, for two minutes and we had a bunch of (rookies) in there…but we still battled pretty hard."